Oranje Tulpen

I don't have to translate that, right?

With a bunch of orange wool blend facing me after ripping apart a sweater in a fit of I-don't-want-to-wait-a-minute-longer, I looked for a suitable sock pattern.

What could be better for bright Dutch orange than socks with a tulip pattern? Nothing, of course.

Obviously I am still carrying my trip to the Netherlands last June with me. And why would I fight that?

After a false start making these toe up, I ripped them out and started from the top. The chart kept me on my toes. It's a 24-row repeat with an independent lace panel on each side.

But totally worth it because you end up with these lovely tulips running up the centre front of your sock.

After finishing the leg, I knit the back stitches for 24 rows to make a heel flap followed by a short-row heel:

Then I picked up 12 stitches on both sides of the flap and starting knitting all the way around again. I decreased the extra stitches, one on each side every third row instead of every other row to make a longer gusset.

Once the gusset was decreased, I knit straight on to the toes. I thought I had room for one more "loop de loop" in the tulip pattern but I probably should have skipped it. By the time that was done, I didn't have much room for the toe. I decreased the stitches in fewer rows than normal and ended with more stitches to. This yielded a much more rounded toe.

I did the decreases different on this pair, just for something to try. Instead of lining up the K2togs and the SSKs so that a strong line appears on the decrease line, I reversed their positions and got an essentially invisible decrease. There's just a slight line between the front and back stitches.

Besides the length of the foot being just a bit long (there's no extra length, really; the socks just don't have to stretch to fit), these are definitely one of the best fitting socks I have. I am really loving the heel flap with short-row heel and the longer gusset really helps relieves some of the tightness over the top of my foot. I think my foot is pretty narrow, but it definitely needs more room around the foot, just in front of the leg. Maybe it's the high arches. I don't know, but I'm really happy to have found something that works.

The yarn I used is only 40% merino and I'm hoping it will be not quite as warm (even though it also has 20% angora and 10% cashmere). With the sock's short length, I think they will be good for spring and fall season. So far it is working out that way!

Project Stats
Started: 2 Jan '15
Finished: 25 Apr '15
Pattern: Tulpen by Stephanie van der Linden (free)
Materials: 40% merino/30% viscose/20% angora/10% cashmere mix from an Express sweater (78 g), held double


Here's one more look--some slip of the finger or misuse of the timer produced this picture, but I think it is kind of neat anyway.

Slow Socks, a Step Back, but Progress Still

Projects are limited right now as I'm putting in a lot of hours at work. And everything is considered crucial this time of year and the pressure is really on so I come home with "zombie head." I have done some simple knitting and crocheting, and this week helped Troy with canning his peaches. (All done now, thank goodness!) But lots of evenings, I'm not even up for that.

Ok, so I know the sock looks ridiculously long,
but it really loses a lot of length as it stretches
widthwise. Really.

I have, however, been making some progress on Troy's socks. With long days, I try to take time to take a half hour break and sit and knit while listening to my newly-discovered NFL podcasts.

The first sock was stalled at some point when I had to put the stitches on a thread and have Troy try them on. I was worried about their being long enough and fitting his calf. By the time he tried them on they were very nearly knee socks. I had in my head that they should be longer, but Troy's voice of reason reminded me that they were already plenty long and in fact longer than any other socks he owned. Ok, so off to the finishing cuff...

I decided to work an elastic thread in with the top 1x1 rib:

It is a big pain in the butt, but I hope it will help keep the socks from slouching. The cuff ended up being about 1.75" deep.

Then it was off to the second sock. I was hoping it would move faster since I didn't have to figure things out or have Troy try them on anymore. I think the time not figuring things out is spent in making sure it matches the first sock, but I am definitely saving time by skipping the fittings.

I was making good progress and yesterday was looking at finishing the heel. I worked the heel flap with a knit 1, slip 1 pattern which reinforces the back of the heel. (Unfortunately it also reduces the stretch, and I think that is part of why Troy has difficulty pulling the socks over his heel. Unanticipated consequences.)

On the second sock, the stitches got very tight. I wasn't aware of it, but I was pulling the yarn past the "slip 1" too tight and drawing everything in. As I finished the heel flap yesterday, I stopped to take a look and realized it was not going to work. I compared it to the first sock and confirmed that the second one was a lot tighter. Rip, rip, rip went the heel as I sat in my car (aka "private 3-season room") at lunch.

I got the stitches all back onto their various needles and began again with the conscious thought of not pulling on the yarn. It is working much better.

This morning I am dangerously close to finishing the second heel. (And I've used up all the yarn from the frogging. Any time I rip something out, I am driven to knit up all the progress I had to tear out in that same session. Yes, this can lead to some late nights. But when lunch break is over, you kind of have to get back to work so I'm glad to have hit that milestone and my compulsive brain can stop worrying over it!)

Once the heel is done, it's 2x2 ribbing with increases up the leg. This is when I'll be asking myself, "Why oh why did I make them so long??" Ok, honestly I was kind of asking myself that on the first sock already.

Meanwhile back to knitting. I still have a hope of finishing these by our anniversary on September 9. Since I started these on our 12.5 anniversary trip, I feel like this would be a fitting completion date.